Electric power supply system



g- 8, 1950 R. KELLY 2,517,575

ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM Filed Jan. 14, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Pair ALMB4 SUH L) FAIL STANDBY 557' .55 3 AND ZSIAREEQU/PPfD o/v BAT, R155 CONTROL GEAR L77 UN/T ONLY (02 ONE u/v/r o/vw C FAIL CR) OF ,4 coup/.50 PA/R) WHEN BSF 15' QU/PPED C NfACT/ 0F 051$ INVENTOR GROUNDED o/escnv.

/?/CHARD KELLY Aug. 8, 1950 R. KELLY 2,517,575

ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM Filed Jan. 14, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/GZ.

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ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM Filed Jan. 14, 1948 4 Sheets-Shet :s

F/ 6.3. [co/4 2 co/v TACTORS BA rrmr ALM. BA MANUAL ALM SUPP- 7D HZ STANDBy HIUN/T U SE7 CONTROL QFAP (55R) INVENTOR AICHAED ELLY Aug. 8, 1950 R. KELLY 2,517,575

ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM 1 Filed Jan. 14, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 STAND ENG/NE GENERATOR SET MOV A CCT ALM, 8,4 TX SUPP. 70 MT INVENTOR AlCH ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 8, 1950 ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM Richard Kelly, London, England, assignor to Internationalstandard Electric Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 14,1948, Serial No. 2,194

In Great Britain January 15, 1947 2 Claims.

This invention relates to electric power supply systems employing stand by or emergency supplies.

In such Systems, the stand-by supply is generally arranged to be connected automatically in place of the normal supply, immediately, or as soon as practicable, upon failure of the main supply and restoration to normal subsequently, upon restoration of the main supply, may be automatically or manually controlled.

The present application has to do with automatically restored systems, although a certain amount of manual control may be incorporated under certain conditions, and the object of the invention is to control the restoration in such a way that it is eiiected as smoothly as possible and without causing a momentary overload either of the load by the power source, or of the power source by the load.

According to the invention, there is provided an electric power supply system comprising normal and stand-by power supply equipments adapted by means of automatic change-over equipment to be connected, one or the other to common bus-bars for maintaining substantially continuous supply of electric power to a load, characterized in this that means are provided in the automatic change over equipment for delaying the completion of an impending change over from one supply equipment to the other for a period of time sufficient to allow the output voltage of the said other equipment to be brought to a predetermined value by manual or automatic regulating means associated therewith.

In supply equipment of this type it is common to arrange for the normal supply to comprise a voltage-regulated rectifier unit connected to the A. C. mains and supplying the load with unidirectional current, a secondary battery of moderate proportions floating across the load circuit bus-bars being provided to give additional smoothing and to carry the load for short periods in emergency.

For the stand-by supply, it is common to provide a prime-mover driving a generator adapted to supply either the A. C. load or the D. C. load. From the point of View of safeguarding continuity or supply to the load it is preferable to provide a D. C. generator so that as much as possible of the normal A. (3. supply equipment is eliminated in the stand-by condition, the stand-by power being connected direct to the bus-bars, or at any rate via the smoothing equipment.

Upon failure of the main supply, or of the associated equipment liable to lead to an interruption oi the supply to the load, automatically operating mechanism is adapted to cause the stand-by engine-generator to start up and to take over the load as soon as the voltage of the generator is normal, the load in the interval between the failure of the normal unit and the commencement of full operation by the stand-by unit being carried by the floating battery.

Subsequent operation of the stand-by unit must be directed not only to supplying the normal load but also to recharging the floating battery and its own starter battery, and these operations must be completed satisfactorily before restoration to mains operation can be permitted. This state of aiiairs may be indicated by the condition of certain relay contacts in the automatic controlling equipment which, when in the condition indicating batteries charged, allow restoration to proceed.

When the normal supply unit is voltage-controlled, as stated above, the range of variation provided to cater for varying loads may be such as to render the voltage output from the rectifier units to be very different from that required by the load on restoration, thereby either endangering the load by a temporary ovel voltage or discharging the battery by a temporary undervoltage. In either case the voltage conditions are soon rectified by the automatic voltage regulating gear, but in the latter case, the rectifier unit has to provide an additional load to recharge the battery, and this may be sufficient to trip certain overload release relays, thereby preventing indefinitely a restoration to normal conditions.

The problem has thus been stated in terms of a somewhat narrowly defined supply system, but, in general, a similar problem will exist in any dual supply system of this kind, and means are disclosed herein for dealing with it.

Moreover, the arrangements described may be applied equally to any number of parallel supply systems supplying different parts of the same equipment with (not necessarily) different vol ages, e. g. high tension, low tension, alarm battery voltages, and it is convenient in such a case for a single prime mover to drive all the necessary stand-by generators, so that a failure in one or more of the normal supply units must initiate a change-over of all of them to standby generators. Some amount of interlocking between the controlling mechanisms of the various units must therefore be envisaged, to eiiect instantaneous change over and controlled restoration .(or change back).

The invention will now be particularly de-- scribed with, reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment incorporating a system of the type just described and comprising two interlocked rectifier cubicles for supplying regulated and smoothed high tension and low tension direct current to, for example, telephonic repeaters in a repeater station, with facilities for automatic change-over to stand-by generating equipment. Such a system forms the subject of our pending U. S. application No. 793,740, filed December 24, 1947, now abandoned.

In the drawing, Figs. 1-3 when placed side by side from left to right show a complete rectifier cubicle arrangement operating from threephase A. C. mains supply adapted to supply regulated and smoothed direct current to a load, and comprising starting, controlling, and changeover circuits for connection to stand-by direct current supply;

Fig. 4 shows, partly in block form and partly in detail, two cubicles A and B of the type shown in Figs. 1-3 with their inter-connections, together with connections to a stand-by engine generator set providing alternative sources of direct current for the loads normally served by the two cubicles. The connections indicated in the generator set portion of Fig. 4 form no part of the invention but comprise a working circuit which is necessary for the understanding of the invention. A and B are assumed in this embodiment to provide L. T. and H. T. current respectively.

In considering the operation of the units of this equipment from the point of view of their controlling mechanisms, it is desirable to concentrate attention not so much on the starting-up aspect which is a relatively simple process of starting one or other of the supply systems, and adding the load a little at a time and is a comparatively rare process in the life of an installation like a telephonic repeater station, but rather from the point of view of changeover from one condition of supply to the other.

It will be convenient first to refer to Fig. 4 in order to obtain an overall picture of the set-up of a power supply system of the type envisaged which includes two rectifier units for providing separate supplies from A. C. mains, of low tension (L. T.) and high tension (H. T.) voltage particularly for use in telephonic repeater stations, and in which provision is made for automatic change-over to a stand-by engine generator set in case of mains failure. Provision is also made for automatic control of the load circuit voltage when in the mains operated condition, and alternatively for manual control thereof, if desired, but these features are not exemplified in Fig. 4 which, as indicated in the description of Fig. 4 given above, is included primarily to show the interconnection between the separate operative units involved.

In the figure are shown two rectifier supply units A and B, for LT and HT respectively, and a commonly held stand-by engine generator set comprising a prime mover, preferably an internal combustion-engine, two D. C. generators coupled therewith for providing stand-by D. C. supplies, a starter battery for the prime-mover and various relays and contactors in a controlling circuit. The controlling circuit shown is not intended to be exhaustive or complete, but to illustrate the principle involved, and, as stated, forms no part of the invention.

The back contacts 113 shown in each rectifier unit and connected in parallel are adapted to close when either unit fails for any reason, as

will be described herein in the appropriate place, and in so doing to connect ground to the engine start relay ESR in the stand-by set, battery being supplied to this relay from the starter battery via the switch S, closed for use. ESR. operates and at:

(a) Contact l connects the battery to the starter motor of the prime mover;

(b) Contacts 2 and 4 completes the magnet circuits of the engine change-over contactors ECOA2 and ECOBZ in order to disconnect the respective load circuits from the dead rectifiers;

(0) Contacts 3 and 5 prepares operating circuits for the engine change-over contactors ECOAl and ECOBI for connecting through the D. C. generators to the load when they are up to speed.

The loads, meantime, are carried by floating batteries (not shown) permanently connected across the load circuit terminals.

When the generators are up to speed, in the space of about 15 seconds, the voltage generated is sufiicient to operate the contactors ECOAl and ECOBI over the prepared circuits, and the loads are now taken by the respective generators which in addition supply suflicient power for recharging the floating batteries and the starter battery. The arrangements for effecting the re-charging of the starter battery are not shown explicity, nor are any trickle-charging arrangements for keeping the battery fully charge at all times, but such arrangements are well-known in the art. Contacts HYD, however, shown in the starter battery block, are intended to represent hydrometer or the like operated contacts adapted to open when the battery is fully charged for purposes such as controlling the charging current, delaying change-back and the like.

As shown, the contacts are adapted to close the circuit of a relay CCR having two back contacts which control the contactor-operating circuits of mains contactors CTR. in the A and B units respectively. These contactors connect the A. C. mains to the main rectifiers, among other functions, and it will be seen that this process would be delayed in the event of a speedy restoration of the mains after failure and change-over to stand-by supplies until the starter battery was fully re-charged. (Note: It would be undesirable to have to run the prime mover on light load for the sole purpose of charging the starter battery because the A. C. mains happened to have been restored after a short failure; standby conditions are therefore maintained until this process is complete.)

The measures adopted for delaying -change-' back on these grounds could apply equally to the recharging of the floating batteries, to avoid overloading of the main rectifiers and possibletripping of series overload contactors, as herein described. However, with some modest degree of overload capacity provided in the rectifiers, and with the restore delay feature also incorporated and to be described herein, coupled with the fact that recharging commences immediately change-over to stand-by is completed, there is little chance of danger likely to arise from this contingency, and similar hydrometer contacts have not been shown for these batteries.

The slight difference in the procedures for change-over to stand-by and change-back to mains may be emphasized here. In change-over, operation of ESR immediately operates the ECOZ contactors but only prepares the circuits of the'ECOl contactors foroperationin-due course. In change-back, however, release of ESR reverses both pairs of contactors simultaneously so that the alternative D. C. supplies for each load will not be connected in parallel, and the D. C. generators die down eventually with the stopping of the prime-mover.

The remainder of the arrangements shown in Fig. 4 are to do with interlocking features between the A and B units to be described in full herein, and with the connections of the units to common station alarms shown here as a busbar arrangement common to several sets of equipment.

Referrin now to Figs. 1-3, in each unit or cubicle of this equipment, a three phase alterhating current supply indicated at -l, c2, as (Fig. l), is adapted to be fed via contacts ct'r'i, 2 and 3 on a contactor CTR,and overload release relay winding OLCI, OLCZ and OLC3- respectively (Fig. 2), to a star-delta transformer Tl provided with a motor-controlledvoltage tapping arrangement on each of its three primary windings. This will be described in more detail hereafter. The secondary (delta) output is fed to a three-phase metal rectifier bridge SR I (Fig. 2), the output of which is taken via an overload relay winding OLGA (Fig. 2) and engine generator change-over contacts ecoal and 2 (or ecobl and 2) (see Fig. 4) for an emergency D. C. sup ply, to a full-section smoothing filter L1L2Ci-C'4 (Fig. 3), thence to a battery of accumulators which float across the supply to give" added voltage stability, and so to the load terminals for connection to a load. A marginal voltmeter rclay JV connected in a circuit across the D. C'. bus-bars in Fig. 3v normally controls via its relief relays l-IV and LV' (Fig. 3) and their associated motor lower (ML) and motor raise (MR) relays (see Fig. 2') the motor MTR (Fig. 2-)" which operates via the magnetic clutch CLu the tap-changing mechanism onthe input transformer Tl referred to above. This mechanism is indicated diagrammatically by a star-network of worm gears WGi 2 and 3, and tapping riders thereon, THE, 2 and 25 respectively. TR3 is adapted to actuate mechanically at the extreme ends of its travel the limit contacts his (high limit switch) and lie (low limit switch), the-functions of which will appear in due course.

A condenser failure relay CF common to all the condensers inthe aforementioned smoothing filter (Fig. 3) gives visual and audible alarm if a condenser breaks down, in a manner to be subsequently described.

The remainder of the equipment provided has to do with (a) Contactor-closing (starting) mechanism;

(19-) Con-tactor change-over mechanism, to standby equipment I (0) Voltage control on the input transformer;

(cl) Mains and (separately) phase failure indication;

(c) Overload release;

(J) Control circuit failure;

(g) Various alarm circuits;

(72) Manual control of A. C: input voltage.

orthese functions (a), (b) and (c) derive their operating power mainly from the A. C. supply, while (d), (c), f)- and to) derive their power mainly from the-battery itself, since they must function in the complete absence or loss of A. C. input power. Function (11-) is a mixed arrangement of cut-out circuitsdesigned to enable the voltage controlling gear tobe opera-ted manually, by a hand-wheel, or remotely, by push-button,

6 while isolating automatic alarms and cut-outs proper to a control failure condition.

The contactor-closing and control circuit for each cubicle separately is energized from one of the phases s3) and neutral by means of a switch Si which connects at Sl--l and Sl-2 (Fig. l) the phase and neutral to be tapped primary of the control-circuit input transformer T2 and a mains failure relay MF (Fig. 2) (via a small bridge rectifier SR3) The relay is provided with a low resistance second winding closed through a single rectifier SR4 connected in a specific di rection so that the relay is made slow to operate, quick to release. The resistors RI and R2 are provided to adjust the sensitivity of this relay.

Also tapped in to the primary of T2 are a raise-lower motor (MTR) circuit (Fig. 2) and neon indicator lamp LNI (Fig. 1).

The fuses Fl 5 and Fit in Fig. I serve to isolate completely the regulating and control circuits. from the main supply circuit, so that a fuse failure in a part of the regulating and control circuits as distinct from the main circuit disables the whole of it, as described in the said prior patent application.

Before proceeding further from T2, reference must be made to the phase-failure relay arrangement tapped across the three phases via the fuses Fl 5, Fli: and Fit (Fig. l) and its function vis-a-vis the mains failure relay which is in phase 3 alone.

The object of the above mentioned mains failure relay MT is (a) to give warning of the presumed complete failure of the three-phase mains supply indicated by the complete failure of one of its phases. (1. e. 4J3) and (b) to set in.

phase, is a necessary and sufficient condition to effect change-over.

The two operative relays in this arrangement are OB and; OB, which are normally unoperated,

while the mains failure. relay is normally ener-' gized.

The secondary winding of T2 feeds via a fuse Fl! a full-wave bridge rectifier SR2 (Fig. I) supplying D. C. power to the controlling circuit, andthe immediate effect of the extension. of. power to this circuit is threefold. From the rectifier -oe' terminal, power goes to (a) circuit for the magnetic clutch CLU returning to rectifier +222 terminal ground via contactsctr't and low limit switch llsl; (b) the motor lower relay ML via ctr5 and returning to. +oc via lZs-l aforesaid; and (c) the quick-make, slow release rela B (Fig. 1) completing its circuitvia breaking-contactsobl of relay OB, and making contacts bsfl actuated by the normally-energmed battery supply fail relay BSF, shown in Fig; 1.

Relay ML (Fig. 2) operating over the abovecircuit and independently of any control by JV or its relief relays connects directly the regulat--- ing motor lower windingat'front-contactsm l t to the control circuitA. Clsupplfv, and the motor beingthereby energized commencesto run the tap-changing mechanismof Tl down to its lowest point in ,preparationvfor a subsequent re-adjustment fromthis pointto an average tapping for the load in use before the extension of the circuit to the load. Relay B actuating before relay MF disables at 173 a control-failure-relay circuit adapted to be responsiveto certain failure conditions and prepares a circuit at bl for the operation of its own A relay (Fig. l) and a similar circuit at 122 for the operation of the corresponding A relay onthe other supply unit (B) (see Fig. 4). This other unit behaves similarly, and when both B relays have operated, both A relays operate, unless there is a fault condition giving rise to the operation of one or other of the control-fail relays CR (q. v.). The interconnections described are clearly shown in Fig. 4.

The A relay at its single contact al prepares the contactor (CTR) circuit for operation and energizes via rectifier SR5, ctr-7 and llsi time delay relay (TDR) (Fig. 3) adapted to operate and shutdown the equipment if the contactor fails to operate Within a certain time. SR (Fig. 3) prevents operation of TDR under certain conditions .by oppositely-directed sneak currents which may be present.

When the low-limit-switch comprising the change-over contacts list and Zlsf on the controlling gear is reached, it is mechanically operated, thereby releasing the motor-lower relay ML and the clutch CLU at 123! and operating the mains contactor CTR to ground via contacts 11st and contactor control relay (CCR) contacts I or 2, as the case may be, in the stand-by generator set controlling gear (Fig. 4) CCR is controlled by the state of charge of the starter battery in that gear, and it will be assumed that the relay is normal, and, as before, an absence of over-riding fault conditions in the control-failure circuits of both units.

The mains contactor operating,

(a) Locks up over its own contact ctrfi;

(b) Extends the three-phase supply to the mains transformer Tl at ctrl, 2 and 3;

(c) Releases at ctri the clutch and the time delay relay TDR, which willnot normally by then have completed its operation;

(d) Breaks down the automatically-operating circuit of the motor-lower relay at 12252-5, preparing, by the closing of contact ctM, the circuit of the motor-raise relay MR; and

(e) Energizes the restore delay relay RDR (Fig. 3) also by the closing of contact ctr l, the circuit being completed at 1T2, a control on re store relay RR, shown in Fig. 3, and not yet operated.

Relay RDR is properly associated with changeback from standby operation and controls relay RR as a relief relay; for the moment, it is sufficient to note that it introduces a delay in the restoring of A. C. mains operation to the load,

and that the change-over operations of contacts ecoal and 2 (ecobl and 2) from standby opera-- tion are delayed until RDR.

By virtue of the so-iar unoperated front contact 1'74 in the JV relay circuit (Fig. 3), JV is given a distinct bias to low on account of the extra series resistance R4! introduced into the JV circuit, and LV relay (Fig. 3) is therefore actuoperation of this relay ated, by a circuit from SR2 -ve over al, K2-I,

JVl-L, M5 to +oe (ground). part of the Manual-auto key K2.

Operation of LV relay thereupon operates mo.-

Contact K2--| is main rectifier SRI isabout average for the normal (and generally reasonably constant) load.

This time interval will be accurately known, since the motor stepping up the voltage from a known value- -the lowest attainable.

This time interval is also made the delay period of BBB, so that, when RDR eventually operates, TI is giving approximately its normal output.

,Operationof RDR causes the operation of restore relayRR (Fig. 3) by ground over rd'rl, and the following operations take place:

(a) Relay RR locks up over its own contact rrl;

(b) Relay RDR is released at r12;

(0) Resistor R4 (Fig. 3) is short-circuited at TM, removing the low bias on JV;

((2) LV and HV relay circuit (Fig. 3) is opencircuited at 115, but will be closed again when relay RR of the other unit operates, closing MS, as shown more clearly by Fig. 4;

(e) Contact rr6, operating in the LV and HV circuit of the other unit closes that circuit if or when it is opened by its own rr5 contact;

(I) Contact 1T3 in parallel with a similar contact from the RR relay of the other unit (see Fig. 4) and ,QDerating in the stand-by equipment auto-control gear, Will so control this gear as to eifect change-back at ecoal and 2 (and ecobl and 2) when both contacts n3, are opened on the two units, as explained in connection with Fig. 4. Thus, when both units are in condition to supply their respective loads from A. C. mains--and this implies (a), Absence of all fault conditions on both; (b) Mains units adjusted to give approximately normal outputs for their respective loads; then the mains units take over the load with the merest disturbanceof the load voltage conditions, and. the circuit continues to function under the regulating influence of'JV relay, acting through its relief relays I-IV and LV and their associated circuits in well-known manner.

The reason for this somewhat elaborate procedure is to ensure that there is no initial violent discharge of the floating batterywhich is generally only of moderate proportionsat the moment of change-over as might occur if the rectifier output voltage was then unduly low, and had to be stepped up in its due time by the regulating circuit. The subsequent recharging load added to the normal load might well cause the overload contactor to trip falsely, and so prevent the load ever getting back on to the mains. This was referred to in connectionwith Fig. 4.

From this point on (i. e. the point of satisfactory change-back to mains), the automatic regulator takes full control in each unit, under the control of the marginalrelay JV, as follows:

(1) JV goes to low LV operates over al, K2l, JVI-L, and

T16 of the other cubicle, and (a) desensitises JV at Zcl. by shunting R5 across it, thereby. preventing contact chatter at JVl-L; (b);operates MR over ctr l, Z02

and hlsl; (c) operates the clutch and TDR over Z113 andhlsl 'TDR, in addition via al;

and MR. operates the motor on its raise winding at mrl.

Control should be effected and LV released before TDR has time to operate.

(ii) JV goes to high HV operates over al, K2--l, JVl-H and N6 of the other cubicle and (a) increases the current in JV by short-circuiting R at hoi, thereby preventing contact chatter at JVIH; (b) Operates ML over cl, M12, and llsl; (c) Operates the clutch and TDR over 72223 and lZsI, TDR in addition, via at; and ML operates the motor on its lower winding at ml i, disabling the motor raise circuit at ml2 as a precaution against the eventuality of both relays MR and lvm being operated simultaneously by a fault and causing the motor to be damaged.

As before, control should be effected and HV released before TDR has time to operate.

In either case, control by the motor to the limit at either extreme of regulation causes the oper ation of the appropriate limit switch, llsl and '2, or hlsl, this action opening the motor controlling and clutch circuits and suspending further control until more normal conditions are restored. An emergency or alarm condition is not signalled.

Each operation of the clutch under normal controlling conditions is accompanied by energization of the time delay relay which does not normally, however, have time to operate before control is effected. If, however, the motor fails to operate for some reason, e. g. burnout, seizure or the like, and control is not effected, the controlling circuit is not released, and the time delay relay eventually operates.

EMERGENCY OR ALARM CONDITIONS Other principal features of this invention reside in the facilities provided for dealing with various alarm conditions, and these will now be described in some detail.

The alarm circuits generally for each cubicle are comprised in an overall alarm circuit of which there is one for each cubicle, both being energized from the bus-bars of one of the supplies, in this case, the low tension or A supply (Fig. 4). Intel-connections of the several alarm circuits into the various station alarm circuits are also indicated in Fig. 4.

Power from the negative bus-bar is taken via fuse FLO (Fig. 3) and switch contact Sl-S (Fig. 1) to both alarm circuits in parallel, a lead for the B unit being shown in Fig, 3. Only one such circuit need be considered in detail, its various features being described hereunder.

The alarms are of two types, Urgent and Non-urgent, and the Urgent type will be discussed first.

I. URGENT ALARMS (a) Control failure Control failure, i. e. failure of the controlling gear to effect satisfactory control of the output voltage, may result from a number of causes, some of which have been discussed already. With the single exception already referred to (over-control by the motor), control failure signals an appropriate alarm condition, closes down both rectifier units and changes over to stand-by supplies.

From whatever the cause resulting in a condition of control failure, a control failure relay CR (Fig. 2) is operated from the low voltage D. C. supply over one of a plurality of circuits. This is a latching or mechanical locking relay which, once operated, locks itself up mechanically, and is only released by energization of the 10 auxiliary winding CT by the operation of a nonlocking reset key, Kl (Fig. 2).

Operation of the relay CR,

(0) Interrupts the A relay circuit on each unit at cr2 and or! respectively, thereby tripping the respective contactors;

(b) Signals an urgent alarm at 0T3 via 014 (Fig. 2 and Fig. 4) and (0) Lights an appropriate lamp LS7 at 014 via 013, (normal).

In regard to (a) above, release of the A relays not only trips the respective contactors (CTR) but also interrupts the LV and HV relay circuits, prevents further operations of TDR J and most important, releases RR. Release of RR immediately sets in operation at back contacts 773 the engine-generator automatic controlling gear, as explained in connection with Fig. 4.

Conditions giving rise to control failure and requiring the signalling of an urgent alarm are:

(i) Control circuit fuse failure in the supply to T2, (FIS or FIG, Fig. l) or from T@ to the rectifier (Fll). These fuses are inserted in the leads beyond the mains failure relay so that a mains failure is not signalled, but the contactor is tripped by failure of current and control suspended. The release of the B relay also occasioned thereby effects at b3 the operation of CR relay via mains failure contact mil MF is still operated, phase failure contact pfl (normal), and reset key Kl, normal and a control failure alarm is therefore signalled.

(ii) Failure of the marginal relay circuit resulting in an open-circuit releases a normally energized relay AN (Fig. 3). The single contact an! of this relay closes, and completes the circuit for CR via the mains failure relay contact mil (operated), K2-4 (normal) and Kl, giving control failure alarm and suspension of operation of both units. Key K2 will be referred to under Manual Control.

(iii) Operation of the time delay relay 'IDR, previously referred to, operates directly the CR relay over its single contact tdrl, K24 and Kl,

' giving control failure.

(iv) Operation of overload relay.

As indicated at the commencement of this description, four overload contactors, OLC l-4 are provided, three of the contactors being effective in the three phases of the main A. C. input, and one in the main D. C. output (Fig. 2). The contacts of these contactors are connected in parallel for operation of a relief relay.

Any one or more of the overload contactors subject to overload will cause the respective contacts olcl, 0104 to close to ground thus closing to battery via s|3 the circuit of an overload relief relay 0L having four contact sets, one of which (oll) locks up the overload relief relay over Kl (normal); a second (0Z2) operates the CR latching relay over Kl (normal) to suspend control and shut down the units; the third and fourth are change-over contacts to enable overload alarms to be signalled instead of control failure alarms, 0Z3 causing alarm lamp LS6 to glow instead of LS! and old changing over the station alarm from Control Fail to Overload (Figs. 2 and 4).

(v) Release of the battery supply fail relay (BSF, Fig. 1) due, for example, to the blowing of fuse FLO or a bus-bar failure, will open the B relay circuit at bsfl (Fig. 1) and so initiate control f all conditions.

Contact bsfZ, falling back and making, causes lamp LSI to glow (Fig. 1) by control-circuit op- (b) Manual control It will be realised that for some of the control failure conditions there is nothing inherently at fault in the main power supply circuit, but both supply units are closed down as a result of the control circuit failure, since this is the safest procedure to adoptulntil the cause of the failure can be ascertained. When this has been (done, it would, in manycases, be found possible to continue operation of the main supply circuit without automatic voltage control, or with manual control, if facilities for so doing had been provided. Such circumstances would comprise, for example, failure of relay AN in the JV circuit, and eventual operation of the time delay relay TDR. f

Hitherto, however, the complexities of the controlling circuit provided have prevented the introduction of a simple manual control key, isolating vital parts of the controlling'circuit, and allowing the mains contactor to be operated, and it is, believed that simple satisfactory means for doing this have not so far been achieved.

The equipment described in connection with the present invention has so far simplified matters ,however, that by its use it is possible to isolate the controlling circuit with an auto-manual key, K2 having a minimum of two contacts only, K2l isolating the marginal-relay relief-relay circuit, and one contact K2'4 isolating certain aspects of the CR operating circuit. Two further contacts are. in fact, provided purely for alarm purposes, one K2-2, giving a local visualalarm on the equipment, and one, K2--.3, an urgent station alarm.

This being done, it is a relatively straight-forward matter to introduce manual control and this may take either or both of two forms,

(i) Local, by the use of a hand-wheel onthe tap-changing mechanism, whereby the voltage can be adjustedto be within limits as indicated by a bus-bar voltmeter or other convenient means; the hand-wheel might, for example, be concealed and out of action under normal conditions, and brought into, operative'relationship with mechanism for manual control'conditions;

(ii) Remote,by' the use of push-button controlling keys on the unit itself or at a central control desk, enabling the motor (if stillfunctioning) to b'e'driv'en under manual control.

.The addition of such facilities does not greatly increase the complexity of the switching required, and adds materially to the utility'of the mains units.

With the arrangements provided, it is possible to go over to manual-control of the mains units at any time when they are supplying their respective loads, merely by throwing the auto-manual key K2 in the respective units (either or both equally) Automatic control isthereby suspended and the load circuit voltage follows the variations of mains voltage and load circuit require ments', or of such'manual control as may been (0) Manual operation of units under-control fail conditions Under conditions of control-failure, from what-- ever cause, the contactor CTR is released following release of relay'A at operated contacts cri and 0T2 on the respective units; relay B is not necessarily released, but the units will have changed over to stand by supplies following release of RR. For manual control, K2 is thrown, 'and KI flicked to release CR, thereby reoperating A, and it may be assumed that the failure conditions are such that'CR will not be immediately operated again on release of KI, i. e. that manual control under the conditions stated is possible. 1 l With K2 thrown,the normal cycle of operations change back to mains operation as described above and culminating in the operation of CTR does not take place, and the first step, therefore, in assuming manualcontrol is to run the regulator down to 'itslowestpoint manually so that contacts Z232 are closed, when CTR will operate, looking over ctrtas before and energising RDR. When manual operation is contemplated as a natural corollary to control failure, as in this case, the assumption of manual control must take place from change-over conditions and not from re'st,and hence the regulator must now be run up manually to a normal position before RDR operates, asprevi'ously described for automatic operation, and finally changirig the units back to mains operation under manual control of the voltage:

II. Nobl -URGENT. ALARMS Threefurther emergencies are provided for which do not, however, initiate control failure conditions. ;Two of these are associated with mains failure, one being true mains failure, as indicated by complete (or nearly complete) failure on one selected phase, and the other being phase failure, indicating a specific voltage unbalance between any two or more of the three phases; and the third has to do with condenser failure (breakdown) in the filter unit. Mains (or phase)- failure resulting, as it does, in simple change-over to stand-by operation, is in no sense a. condition requiring urgent attention, and may not, in fact, be capable of urgent attention if the mains supply has truly failed from some enternal cause.

(:1) Mains failure 7 As indicated earlier, the mains failure relay MP is a slow-make quick-release relay, operated by rectified A. (lfrom the one of the three phases energising the controlling circuits,-and remains operated under normal conditions.

Failure (i. e. release) of the mains failure relay takes place instantly on failure of this one phase, and is followed by the instantaneous tripping of themains contactor due to failure of holding current, and, in due course,by the release of the B .(b) 'Phase failure The phasefailure (or out-of-balance) relay ar rangement (Fig. 1) is sensitive toa specific un-" alarmbalance of potential between any two of the three phases and the particular type proposed for this equipment forms the subject of a separate patent specification No. 37,271/46.

On an unbalance being detected, one or both of the phase out-of-balance relays OB and CB operate(s) and immediately open(s) the circuits of the PF (Fig. 2) and B relays, the former at 0172 and/ or ob'2 as the case may be. The latter relay (B) ultimately releases, but is too late to set up control failure conditions at b"3, the CR circuit being by then open at pjl. Two further contacts on the phase failure relay effect change-over in the alarm-signalling conditions, thereby enabling phase failure alarm instead of mains failure alarm to be signalled. Contact pjZ (Fig. 2) controls the phase failure lamp, LS3, and M3 (Fig. 2) controls the non-urgent station alarm (Fig. 4).

Phase failure alarm may, of course, be accompanied by mains failure, but the latter is ineffective, and only phase failure is signalled.

(c) Condenser failure As indicated at the commencement of this description, an alarm circuit is provided for failure of the condensers in the filter sections provided for smoothing the main rectifier outputs.

This consists of a fuse failure alarm circuit, as provided in ordinary telephone exchange practice, a main fuse and a relief fuse being provided for each condenser used, and a common fusealarm relay for the bank of condensers on the one unit. Short-circuit of a condenser blows its series-connected fuse, thereby isolating the condenser from the filter circuit, and the blowing of the relief fuse which follows actuates the alarm.

Referrin to Fig. 3, each condenser, e. g. Cl, is connected into the filter circuits via a main, heavy-duty fuse, Fl in this case, shunted by a light relief fuse of alarm type, F5, adapted to make contact between its upper terminal and an alarm contact f5 when the fuse blows. The current through Rla F5 (top) and f5 flows via a common fuse alarm circuit fuse F9 to relay CF and through R9 to ground.

Thus, when any of the condensers break(s) down, the main fuse (Fl, F2, F3 and/ or F4) blows, followed immediately by its relief fuse (F5, F6, F1 and/ or F8), relay CF operates and at contact cfl gives visual alarm on lamp LS5 and nonurgent station alarm over cf2 (see Fig. 4).

The interlocking features described herein for two cubicles (supply units) would be extensible to groups of more than two units, at the expense of a certain amount of added complexity.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric power supply system comprising normal and stand-by power supply equipments adapted by means of automatic change-over equipment to be connected, one or the other, to common bus-bars for maintaining substantially continuous supply of electric power to a load, characterised in this that first means are provided in the automatic change-over equipment for delaying the completion of an impending change-over from standby supply equipment to the normal supply equipment for a period of time sufficient to allow the output voltage of the normal supply equipment to be brought to a predetermined value, said delay means including regulating means associated with said normal power supply for controlling the output voltage thereof, and second control means in said automatic change-over equipment to load the voltage output of the normal supply equipment standing by to a definite low level and thereafter to raise it a predetermined fixed amount before the change-over is fully effected.

2. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a voltage transformer having an output tapping, a contactor, a delay relay and a mechanism, wherein said automatic change-over equipment is adapted on the application of power to said power supply equipment for the time being standing by, to lower said voltage output tapping thereon to a definite low position and thereupon to effect circuit changes to operate said contactor to extend said power to a further predetermined point in the said power supply equipment standing by; to energise said delay relay to withhold complete change-over; and to set in motion said mechanism to raise the output voltage of said supply equipment at said further point by said predetermined amount.

RICHARD KELLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 16,917 Williams Nov. 29, 1927 1,478,079 Wescoat Dec. 18, 1923 1,770,055 Williams July 8, 1930 2,004,792 McCarty June 11, 1935 2,031,942 Duguid et al Feb. 25, 1936 2,219,459 Spencer Oct. 29, 1940 2,329,010 Spencer Sept. 7, 1943 

